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Food ingredients to drive processing sector
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Saturday, 25 September, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Bangalore
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 India is the ingredients bowl of the future. The segment is driven by the growing food processing industry.
The key ingredients are food colours, flavours, sweeteners, antioxidants and antimicrobials, emulsifier and stabilizers. Their use in the food and beverage sector is indispensable. There are also a huge range of special ingredients like probiotics, prebiotics and bio-enzymes. In addition, there are bulk ingredients like dairy, oils, fats, sugars, basic proteins, emulsifiers, acidulants, phytochemicals, sweeteners, flavours, colours, enzymes, meat seasonings, bakery mixes, fruit preps, vitamin/mineral pre mixes, etc.
Some of the leading companies in the space are Grifith Labs, Pristine Organics, Cargill Flavours, AB Mauri, Sonarome ITC Colors and Phytotec Extracts to name a few.
According to Frost & Sullivan and Confederation of Indian Food Trade and Industry (CIFTI), food wing of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the market is brimming with innovative products and is set to drive growth. There are scores of opportunities for novel product development and the growing demand for convenience foods is giving the segment a further fillip.
According to a report, consumers are expected to increase their spending on packaged foods by 56.5% per capita to $18billion by 2012. The market holds enormous growth potential for snack food, which is estimated to be worth $ 3 billion and growing at a rate of 8-20% annually. Juices and carbonated drinks are also high growth segment at 25% per year. The dairy industry, already the biggest in the world, is forecast to cross $108 billion in revenues by 2011. This will only see significant opportunities for the food ingredients market.
Food Ingredients sector is indicating ample prospects for growth. The segment is an obligatory factor for the growth of the food and beverage sector. It is registering an annual growth rate of 14-16 %. Further the importance of speciality ingredients like soya isolate, whey protein concentrate, dietary fibres and Omega 3 fatty acids among others cannot be ignored. These ingredients are also driving the development of the wellness/ health foods industry to clock 20% growth annually.
Globally, food ingredients is a multibillion dollar industry and is fast expanding. Innovation in the food and beverage market, especially in the processed food domain, has created innumerable opportunities for new product development in the ingredients market as well. Additionally, growing urbanisation and changing lifestyles have led to a growing demand of convenient food that offer specific health benefits. This, in turn, has ushered in a new category of functional and health food that claim to be fortified with certain new-age health ingredients, which offer functional health benefits over and above the basic nutritional benefits of the foodstuff, stated Aditi Basu, Senior Consulting Analyst, South Asia & Middle East, Chemicals, Materials & Foods Practice, Frost & Sullivan.
Food ingredients are naturally derived barring a few such as the synthetic colours, flavours, antioxidants, and other preservatives.
Such synthetic ingredient categories again have natural counterparts, which are increasingly finding good demand in food and beverages. Thus, food ingredient is an important link that enables complete integration from the farm-gate level to the final value added processed food stage, stated Basu in the report on Strategic Outlook on the Growth of the Indian Food Ingredients Market.
There are nearly 10 to 15 broad classes of ingredients that include the very basic ingredients as well as certain value added ingredients that have niche applications. Key ingredients are preservatives, flavours, colours, hydrocolloids/stabilizers, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners and value added health food ingredients such as omega fatty acids and probiotics.
The total Indian market for food ingredients stood at $474 million in 2007 which covers food applications for emulsifiers, hydrocolloids, flavours, artificial sweeteners, health ingredients, and all industrial applications for preservatives and colours.
There are a profusion of products expected to come out into the basket of health and wellness foods. The variety includes, speciality foods catering to the needs to diabetic, cardiovascular, infants, kids, geriatric, sportsperson, post-operative speciality foods, anti-aging, herbal foods, body builder’s foods and many others, according to Chetan L Hanchate, Consultant, Food Processing, and CEO, Centre for Processed Foods.
Going by the scores of poor nutrient disease condition, emergence of functional foods will see an increase. These products are fortified with certain new-age health ingredients that offer functional health benefits over and above the basic nutritional benefits of the foodstuff. Key health ingredients that fall under this segment are gut health promoting probiotics, prebiotics and certain protein ingredients that are used for general well-being.
F&B News had earlier reported that speciality ingredients applications are gaining ground in a health conscious society. These include soya proteins - soya protein concentrates, soya protein hydrolysates and soya protein isolates (excluding soya meal), Milk proteins - whey protein concentrates, whey protein isolates, whey protein hydrolysates and wheat gluten.
According to KC Raghu, managing director, Pristine Organics Pvt. Ltd, the discovery of micronutrient and its direct link to health and vitality, established the criticality of these minor nutrients. Lack of vitamin C leads to scurvy, vitamin B1 to beri beri, iron deficiency to anaemia and vitamin A deficit causes blindness. Micro nutrient deficiency known as hidden hunger results in morbidity and mortality. The immediate solution is simple straight forward products on hand. Fortified, commonly consumed foods are recommend by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and UNICEF. This has led companies to offer products which offer a wide range of nutrients, phyto-chemicals, bioactive compound and customised solutions for various food and pharma product.
India is making major efforts to ensure the consumption of millets is on the rise. In this regard considerable importance is given to processing and value addition of finger millet or small millets.
The millets are known to be low in dietary bulk, high in nutrient density and known for its good profile of amino acids, according to officials from the department of food and nutrition department, division of Home Science, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
Several market drivers affecting the growth of the Indian food ingredients market have been identified. Some of the factors that are expected to affect the market are growing urbanisation across the country and increased opportunities for organised retail market.
Some of the key restraints for the market are the stringent regulatory hurdles, raw material sourcing, lack of a centralised supply chain system, paucity of cold storage facilities leading to loss of agro-produce, lack of commercial cultivation of raw materials, according to the report.
Despite the good prospects in the processed food market and hence the impressive opportunities for the Indian food ingredients industry, there were a number of loopholes in the entire food industry chain that limits the growth in the food ingredients market. Most of the food ingredients manufactur
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